Tag: Donald Trump

Gregg Popovich is known for his straight to the point interviews with NBA sideline reporters (especially Craig Sager).

In an interview Friday, Popovich shared his thoughts/feelings about the election of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States.

In the interview Popovich referred to Trump as a race baiter and a whole lot more…..

“Right now I’m just trying to formulate thoughts. It’s too early. I’m just sick to my stomach. Not basically because the Republicans won or anything, but the disgusting tenure and tone and all of the comments that have been xenophobic, homophobic, racist, misogynistic.

“I live in that country where half of the people ignored all of that to elect someone. That’s the scariest part of the whole thing to me. It’s got nothing to do with the environment and Obamacare, and all of the other stuff. We live in a country that ignored all of those values that we would hold our kids accountable for. They’d be grounded for years if they acted and said the things that have been said in that campaign by Donald Trump.

“I look at the Evangelicals and I wonder, those values don’t mean anything to them? All of those values to me are more important than anybody’s skill in business or anything else because it tells who we are, and how we want to live, and what kind of people we are. That’s why I have great respect for people like Lindsey Graham and John McCain, John Kasich, who I disagree with on a lot of political things, but they had enough fiber and respect for humanity and tolerance for all groups to say what they said about the man.

“That’s what worries me. I get it, of course we want to be successful, we’re all going to say that. Everybody wants to be successful, it’s our country, we don’t want it to go down the drain. But any reasonable person would come to that conclusion, but it does not take away the fact that he used that fear mongering, and all of the comments, from day one, the race baiting with trying to make Barack Obama, our first black president, illegitimate. It leaves me wondering where I’ve been living, and with whom I’m living.

“The fact that people can just gloss that over, start talking about the transition team, and we’re all going to be kumbaya now and try to make the country good without talking about any of those things. And now we see that he’s already backing off of immigration and Obamacare and other things, so was it a big fake, which makes you feel it’s even more disgusting and cynical that somebody would use that to get the base that fired up. To get elected. And what gets lost in the process are African-Americans, and Hispanics, and women, and the gay population, not to mention the eighth grade developmental stage exhibited by him when he made fun of the handicapped person. I mean, come on. That’s what a seventh grade, eighth grade bully does. And he was elected president of the United States. We would have scolded our kids. We would have had discussions until we were blue in the face trying to get them to understand these things. He is in charge of our country. That’s disgusting.”

“One could go on and on, we didn’t make this stuff up. He’s angry at the media because they reported what he said and how he acted. That’s ironic to me. It makes no sense. So that’s my real fear, and that’s what gives me so much pause and makes me feel so badly that the country is willing to be that intolerant and not understand the empathy that’s necessary to understand other group’s situations. I’m a rich white guy, and I’m sick to my stomach thinking about it. I can’t imagine being a Muslim right now, or a woman, or an African-American, a Hispanic, a handicapped person. How disenfranchised they might feel. And for anyone in those groups that voted for him, it’s just beyond my comprehension how they ignore all of that. My final conclusion is, my big fear is — we are Rome.”

WOW….

As always….

If there is something to be said, “It’s On Broadway” to step up and say it!!

The man with no real grasp of foreign affairs or how government works or how trade deficits work; will win tonight’s debate against Hillary Clinton and it’s very simple.

All Trump will have to do is seem normal, that’s it!

In saying this, I am not saying that Trump will be the next president of the United States. We have already seen that a first debate win doesn’t necessarily translate into residency at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (See Mitt Romney 2012).

If Trump can refrain from talking about the size of his hands, and WWE style vignettes he can endear himself those who can’t stand Clinton and just need a coherent reason not to vote for her. The problem is can Trump contain himself? Can he resist the urge to not be the SHOW?

Who knows, but it should be interesting tonight.

As always….

If there is something to be said, “It’s On Broadway” to step up and say it!!

Well if his performance Thursday night in CNN‘s GOP debate is any indicator. Rubio might start seeing some victories coming his way.

Ok, ok Marco!

Now, a good debate performance doesn’t necessarily translate into primary wins, but at this point Rubio needed to make something happen. And it looks like his new strategy was effective.

Last night Rubio stopped trying to be the “Adult in the room” and he smacked Donald Trump with one-liners/zingers. Rubio, time and time again relentlessly fired shots at Trump. At times overwhelming the Donald and kept the business man on the defensive.

It remains to be seen if Rubio’s switch to an attack style can carry him to some victories on Super Tuesday, but desperate times calls for desperate measures.

But here’s something to keep in mind….

Rubio’s attack strategy seemed to have caught Trump off-guard, but I can’t see that happening again. The next couple of days should be interesting.

As always….

If there is something to be said, “It’s On Broadway” to step up and say it!!

When will Marco Rubio start living up to the media and pundits expectations and actually give Donald Trump a run for his money?

To be honest, when will he start living up to his own team’s expectations. The Washington Post reported that Rubio’s team had a strategy of “3-2-1”; coming in 3rd in Iowa, 2nd in New Hampshire, and 1st in South Carolina.

The only problem, Trump mania!

I shouldn’t give Trump ALL the credit, Rubio hasn’t helped his cause stumbling in debates and coming off as the manufactured candidate.

Time is running out for Rubio and with Trump’s victory in Nevada, he has to be feeling the pressure. And we know what happens when he feels the pressure…..

SMH, Rubio has to get it together soon or else he will be on the sidelines with his old mentor Jeb Bush.

As always….

If there is something to be said, “It’s On Broadway” to step up and say it!!

April 7, 1980 President Jimmy Carter announced sanctions against Iran as a result of the Iran Hostage Crisis.

One of the sanctions….

The Secretary of Treasury [State] and the Attorney General will invalidate all visas issued to Iranian citizens for future entry into the United States, effective today. We will not reissue visas, nor will we issue new visas, except for compelling and proven humanitarian reasons or where the national interest of our own country requires. This directive will be interpreted very strictly.

Also, soon after the U.S. Embassy in Tehran was taken over; Carter order (Executive Order) all Iranian students in the United States had 30 days to report to immigration officials to verify their visas. Out of over 50,000, there were 15,000 Iranians who were ejected out of the U.S for being in violation of their visas. This would be later upheld by an appeals court.

Now we have Conservatives / Trump supporters using Carter as an example of hypocrisy….. WRONG, WRONG, WRONG!!!

Donald Trump’s call for a ban on all Muslims traveling to the U.S. is no comparison to what Carter did during the Iran hostage crisis. For example, Carter was willing to allow Iranians access to the U.S. for “compelling and proven humanitarian reason”. While Trump doesn’t care about the humanitarian reasons a Syrian or let’s say a Nigerian Muslim has for wanting to escape a dire situation.

Nice try!

As always….

If there is something to be said, “It’s On Broadway” to step up and say it!!

Ever since the Paris Attack everyone and their mother have stated their thoughts on the Syrian refugees and the possibility of refugees in their background. From Donald Trump‘s ridiculous Muslim Tracking database, Jeb Bush‘s idea of only letting in Syrian Christians, to the billion of Facebook posts comparing locking the doors to your house to protect your family and that’s how we should treat refugees.

While I can understand people on Facebook being uninformed, it beyond frustrating to hear those who should know say the dumbest things.

It’s natural to have a fear of terrorism, but we shouldn’t let our fears replace facts!

And social media is not the place to find the facts….

Before people decide that closing the borders is the only way, let’s first understand what exactly is the vetting process for refugees trying to come to the United States

How do refugees come to the United States?

Potential refugees first apply for refugee status through the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), the international body in charge of protecting and assisting refugees.

The UNHCR essentially decides who merits refugee status based on the parameters laid out in the 1951 Refugee Convention, which states that a refugee is someone who “owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country.”

If it’s demonstrated that the refugee in question meets the above conditions, the applicant may be referred by the UNHRC for resettlement in a third country, such as the United States, where he or she will be given legal resident status and eventually be able to apply for citizenship.

After the UNHCR refers a refugee applicant to the United States, the application is processed by a federally funded Resettlement Support Center, which gathers information about the candidate to prepare for an intensive screening process, which includes an interview, a medical evaluation and an inter-agency security screening process aimed at ensuring the refugee does not pose a threat to the United States.

The average processing time for refugee applications is 18 to 24 months, but Syrian applications can take significantly longer because of security concerns and difficulties in verifying their information.

Once they’ve completed that part of the process, the refugee is paired with a resettlement agency in the United States to assist in his or her transition to the country. That organization provides support services, such as language and vocational training, as well as monetary assistance for housing and other necessities.

What’s the security vetting process like?

Much attention has been focused on the security vetting refugees must go through before they come to the United States, particularly after it was revealed that one of the terrorists in the Paris attacks entered Europe through a refugee processing center.

Several federal agencies, including the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security, the Defense Department, the National Counterterrorism Center and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, are involved in the process, which Deputy State Department Spokesman Mark Toner recently called, “the most stringent security process for anyone entering the United States.”

These agencies use biographical and biometric information about applicants to conduct a background check and make sure applicants really are who they say they are.

The applicant is interviewed by a DHS officer with training in this screening process as well as specialized training for Syrian and Iraqi refugee cases.

And refugees from Syria actually go through another layer of screening, called the Syria Enhanced Review process.

“With the Syrian program, we’ve benefited from our years of experience in vetting Iraqi refugee applicants,” a senior administration official recently told reporters. “And so the partnerships we have today and the security checks we have today really are more robust because of the experience that we’ve had since the beginning of large-scale Iraqi processing in 2007.”

Another senior administration official noted that the refugee screening process is constantly refined.

FACTS MATTER, and these facts fly in the face of the nonsense on social media. It’s really not that difficult to find the truth, and debating facts leads to a more productive conversation.

As always….

If there is something to be said, “It’s On Broadway” to step up and say it!!

Donald Trump finally rolled out his Tax Plan and it shouldn’t surprise anyone that much like everything Trump, it’s full of shit!

To be honest, this guy Trump ALMOST got me with his BS.

When Trump dropped his tax plan on Monday, he sold it as a populist plan that’s tough and is fair for everyone. The only problem with Trump’s plan are the details, and like they say, “The devil is in the details…”

I could go right in and spit out some comments from a left-leaning tax group like Citizens for Tax Justice, but that would be too easy for Conservatives to ignore. So, here is what the right-leaning Tax Foundation have to say about Trump’s BS….

Our analysis finds that the plan would reduce federal revenues by $11.98 trillion over the next decade.

Trump’s plan is Jeb Bush’s Tax Plan on steroids, and like Jeb’s plan there is lack of clarity of how they can make up for that lost revenue.

I thought the idea was NOT to add to the country’s debt or deficit??

Once again Trump is proving he’s just a chump!

As always….

If there is something to be said, “It’s On Broadway” to step up and say it!!